Being an Uncle
by Jaeeton
Summary: Short one-shot in which Zuko tries to fulfill his Uncle-ly duties.


Hello Avatar fans!! This is just a quick one-shot about Zuko being an Uncle. The idea hit me last night while I was trying to get to sleep, resulting in me having to scramble out of bed and find some paper. Damn plot bunnies. But anyways, I'm not sure, but Zuko might be a little OOC due to being older and somewhat wiser. The kid is Aang's child, coz you know that after the war the Gaang's all gonna be one great big happy family and all the kids are gonna have more Uncles and Aunts than they're actually related to. Thanks to Lady Flick for helping me out with a bit at the start, dunno what I'd do without you. So yeah, that's about it. Enjoy! Reviews are muchly appreciated, with cyber cookies for all XD Thanks for reading!

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar. If I did, the rest of the episodes would have been aired by now.

**Being an Uncle  
**

It was a quiet afternoon in the Fire Nation as Fire Lord Zuko sat beside a small pond feeding the turtle ducks. He _finally_ had an afternoon free to just sit and relax, all alone, and he was enjoying it immensely. The peaceful serenity of being alone with his thoughts, the quiet splashes of the turtle ducks swimming around, the loud bang of slamming doors and the angry tread of his ten year old nephew stalking across the courtyard towards the pond.

'_Oh dear.'_

"Kuzon? What are you doing out here? I thought you were training with your father?"

"Humph." Grunted the boy, throwing himself down on the grass next to Zuko, "What's the point? I'm a horrible bender! I'll never be able to bend properly!" he cried, throwing his hands up in the air.

"Oh?"Asked Zuko mildly, eyebrow raised.

"It's not fair!" He burst out, almost making the man beside him jump and causing the turtle ducks to retreat to the far side of the pond quacking in fear. "Everyone else in the family is a great bender! Dad's the _Avatar_, Mum's one of the best benders of her element, one of the best benders in the whole _world _and Gyatso's just _brilliant _according to absolutely _everybody_ whose ever seem him bend." he said, making a face, utter disgust in his voice. "And I can't even do one of the most basic beginners sets right!" he finished, flopping back further until he was lying flat on the ground.

As Zuko watched the young boy sprawled out on the grass, completely despondent, he couldn't help but feel a slight bit of remorse for the demise of his quiet afternoon. But this was his family, and his own Uncle had taught him that family always came first. Besides, the grey eyed midget beside him reminded him of himself at the same age.

'_Now, what was it that Uncle always used to say to me when I got like this?'_

"Well, I'm sure if you just keep practising,"

"But I'm not any good!" Kuzon cut in, hauling himself upright, "No matter how much I practise, I just can't do it!"

'_Did Uncle have this much trouble with me when I was younger?' _

"You know Kuzon, when I was your age, no don't roll your eyes at me," he scolded, thwacking the boy lightly upside the head, "when I was your age, I couldn't bend very well either."

"What? No way!" Kuzon exclaimed, "You're the best firebender there is Uncle Zuko! There's no way you could have been as bad as I am."

'_No, I was probably worse.'_

"I'm _one_ of the best, not _the _best." Zuko corrected, "And I wasn't always. I couldn't even do a proper kick. I was pretty clumsy when I was younger actually." The older man admitted sheepishly.

"No way." The boy replied flatly, "You're just saying that to try and make me _feel_ better, aren't you?"

"Nope. My word as Fire Lord," said Zuko solemnly, raising his right hand, "I used to be a terrible bender when I was your age."

"...Really?"Asked Kuzon, quieter now.

"Sure was. But I kept at it and I kept practising and practising, and eventually I got better. Now I'm a master fire bender. So you see, you just have to keep at it no matter how hard it seems."

Kuzon stared back at him, his own eyebrows raised now.

'_Oh, come on kid! Don't look so sceptical.'_

"What? It's true! Practise is everything in bending."

"Eh, I guess so. But Gyatso's still better than me." Kuzon finally replied, still sulking somewhat.

'_Oh, for the love of...!'_

"He's also three years older than you, Kuzon," sighed a thoroughly exasperated Zuko, "Of course he's going to be better than you at the moment. He's bigger, he's had three years more practise and he knows more advanced techniques. Wait until you're both master benders before you try to decide who's _better_."

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Kuzon admitted, grinning, as he hopped to his feet.

"Nephew, I'm _always_ right." Said Zuko as he too stood up, more sedately than the once more energetic boy beside him, "Now go on, back to your training." He ordered, ruffling the boys hair.

"Okay, fine, I'm going, I'm going. Thanks Uncle Zuko," said the young boy as he threw his arms around his uncle's waist in a hug before running off back towards the training arena, calling back over his shoulder, "See you at dinner!"

"No problem Nephew," Zuko smiled to himself as he watched the young boy run off, "No problem at all."

'_Ha, this Uncle business isn't so hard once you get the hang of it.'  
_

Thanks for reading! Please, leave me a review and tell me what you think. Constructive criticism is always welcome! I'll give you virtual cooookieeees!


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